It's Not That Bad
by dontpopthismolly
Summary: Alternate timeline in Infinity War; Peter is injured during a battle in Wakanda. Some mild language and minor spoilers for Infinity War.


Hello dear friends, it's been two weeks and I'm still dealing with all kinds of emotions after Infinity War so this was some kind of weird therapy for me:)

/

"Hey Quill," Peter chuckled, "do I look like Indiana Jones?", Spider Man swung around the Wakandan battlefield, picking off a lone chitauri when he saw an opening.

"Hell yeah, little man" Quill grunted out fending off two of the aliens at once.

"What did I say about the pop culture references kid?" Tony said trying to suppress a smile. Middle of the battle of the century and the kid was still cracking jokes.

Peter let out a laugh, "Sorry Mr. Sta-", he was cut off by a fiery pain in his chest, he looked down in surprise at the three prongs poking out of the front of his suit. The last sister of the Black Order flung Peter off her trident and into the dirt, he landed with a hard thud and a grunt.

Tony turned when the boy's sentence was cut off and saw Peter flying through the air, "PETER!" he yelled, "Somebody watch his six. I'm coming kid."

Okoye and Natasha took on the Titan's daughter while Stark landed next to Peter, retracting his helmet so Peter could see his face.

"Pete..Peter. Come on buddy, talk to me." Peter's breaths came in short gasps while he clamped both his hands down over the holes in his chest. Tony pried the boy's fingers away and used his own hands to put pressure on the wounds, and Peter screamed at the new pressure. "Hey, hey, hey, look at me Pete. It's not bad, it's not even that bad we can patch you up."

Peter raised a shaky hand to his mask and pulled it off his face. Tony saw the fear in his eyes and the tears threatening to spill over. "It hurts." Peter managed to get out, his back arching trying to ease the pain.

"I know, I know...FRIDAY what's his status?"

"One wound is relatively superficial, the second pierced the left lung, and the third ruptured the pericardium. Mr. Parker's pulse and respiratory rate are both deteriorating quickly, and he is falling into shock. He needs medical attention immediately."

"Shit okay, Peter look at me. Try and relax."

Peter's eyes were glazing over, and he was starting to shiver. "Tony", Peter gasped, grabbing the older man by the forearm to get his attention. "Karen. She...she has a message saved for May. Will you… will you make sure she gets it?" The tears he had managed to hold back through his own pain started to fall at the thought of his aunt listening to the message he left her.

"She won't need it, we're gonna get you home." Tony said dismissively. Peter shot Tony a terrified look and the realization that Peter could die right there under his hands was almost too much for Tony. "I'll take care of it if I have to Peter," he choked out, trying to hide the fear in his voice, "just try and hang on kid, okay?"

Peter nodded and relaxed slightly. Tony worked the web shooter off his left hand and sealed up the wounds before pulling Peter into a semi-upright position and reapplying pressure. "Okay that should buy us a few minutes, we're gonna get you help." Peter nodded, his head resting on Tony's shoulder. His breaths were quickly becoming more labored and Tony could hear the rattling in his chest.

Okoye and Nat finished off the alien who tried to kill Peter and jogged over. "Okay there, little spider?" Nat asked, kneeling across from Tony, resting her hand on Peter's shoulder to try and offer some comfort. She hadn't known the boy very long, but the whole team had quickly grown attached. Peter glanced at the Black Widow and pulled out a small smile.

"Shuri can help if you get him to her lab," she pulled one of the Kimoyo beads off her wrist and handed it to Tony, "this will grant you access." He nodded, pulling Peter up into his arms and rocketing off toward the city. The women watched them leave, then nodded to each other and got back to work.

/

"Hold on Peter, we're almost to the lab." Tony said, retracting his helmet into his suit. They landed outside the lab, and entered through the sliding doors, running down a spiral ramp. Peter was limp in Tony's arms, having lost consciousness during the short flight. "Shuri?!" he yelled.

Shuri looked up from the panel she was monitoring, ensuring that there were no other breaches in the force field surrounding the city. "Take over", she said to a guard, running over to Tony and Peter. Shuri wasn't what Tony was expecting, she was about Peter's age, small, with her braids pulled up into two buns on her head. But he Peter was fading in his arms and if the Wakandan general trusted this girl to save Peter, then he could too.

"Lay him on the table", she told Tony. The wall behind the exam table lit up with Peter's vitals, and a list of his injuries. Shuri studied them, her eyebrows furrowing with concern while she cut open the top half of his suit, "He's going to crash soon, I'll need your help", she nodded to Tony.

He stepped up to the table across from Shuri, ready when she needed him. As she said, Peter's pulse deteriorated into V-Fib a few seconds later. "Shock him now, 300 joules." Tony charged his repulsors and laid both his hands on Peter's wrecked chest, delivering the shock. "Again." Shuri said, "Okay, he's back in normal rhythm, I'll have to intubate though, his left lung is about to collapse."

Shuri looked up as another doctor walked in and started handing her supplies. She looked to Tony and noticed his distress. "We'll take care of him, Mr. Stark. You can step out now." She said with in a reassuring tone before turning back to her assistant.

Tony backed out through the glass doors and stepped out of his suit, watched helplessly as Shuri and the other doctor tried to save Peter's life. He was on the verge of tears, the boy who was almost a son to him barely clinging to life, in a foreign country, fighting a war he never should have been a part of, with no one but strangers to put him back together.

/

Two hours later Shuri looked over her work one last time, then up at Tony who hadn't moved the whole time she worked, she gestured for him to enter and Tony walked in, lingering a few feet back from Peter's bed not wanting to disturb the sleeping teen.

"He's going to be alright Mr. Stark," Shuri said, pushing Peter's brown waves off his forehead, "between my medical technology and his healing factor, he should be on his feet by tomorrow and back to 100% in a few days. We repaired his lung and the pericardium. He'll need to stay on the ventilator for a couple hours until his lung is healed a little more, and I have him sedated so he doesn't injure himself further, but once he's breathing on his own and more stable we can let him wake up," she sighed, "He was lucky, just a few centimeters to the right and it would have pierced his heart, there wouldn't have been anything we could have done."

Tony nodded and began to relax, it had been a close one, _too damn close_ , but the kid really was going to be okay, even though Peter still looked like he was on Death's Door. He was as pale as the sheet that covered him, several IV lines were in his arms, Shuri had turned off the large wall displaying his vital signs and hooked up a simple heart monitor. "Thank you, Shuri", Tony said quietly, glancing up at the young woman.

"Of course," she said with a small smile, she looked over to the guard who was monitoring the borders. "It looks like the battle is dying down, I'm going to make sure the force field is secure. The rest of the team will be here soon, I'll give you some time alone with him before the rest of the team gets here. I won't be far if he needs me."

Tony had almost forgotten about the war going on outside; he didn't even really care anymore, Peter was more important. He pulled a chair over to the bed and hesitated slightly before holding Peter's hand, it was cool in his own. The kid would never hold still long enough for Tony to do this if he were awake, they would both be too embarrassed anyway. He laid his free arm down on the bed and rested his head on it, falling asleep within minutes.

/

Tony woke with a start, Peter was choking on the tube down his throat, the machines surrounding him blaring their alarms. Shuri ran over and adjusted his medications, a few moments later the machine's settled and Peter relaxed back into the bed.

"He's okay," Shuri reassured a concerned Stark, "His body is fighting, that means he's ready to come off the ventilator." She prepared a nasal cannula and turned off the ventilator, quickly removing the tube from Peter's throat. Tony held his breath for a beat until Peter took a shaky breath of his own.

Shuri re-adjusted Peter's medications and fixed the cannula over his ears, "He should wake up soon," she said, scanning Peter's upper body with her Kimoyo beads and projecting it for Stark to see. "His wounds are healing nicely, but he'll still be in some pain when he wakes."

Tony nodded his thanks and raked his hands through his hair leaning forward in his chair. He watched Peter's chest rise and fall for the next several minutes, grateful that his kid was still alive. Peter stirred and blinked a few times before rolling his head toward Tony.

"Hey, Mr. Stark."

Tony cracked a smile for the first time in what felt like days.


End file.
